I picked this series up because from the first
solicitations in Previews I thought it looked interesting. An
American-style manga story set in a cyberpunk future complete with hardboiled cop and
beautiful cyborg female cop. I mean, how many times has this formula been played across
the Japanese animation screen? Many times to answer my own question for those of you who
arent conversant in Anime SF conventions. But, sucker that I am, it never ceases to
hook me.

Darkminds really reads like a manga in
that the panels are big, the dialogue is sparse and the story is short. The character
designs are decent, however and unlike a lot of action-oriented manga there are
backgrounds. On the downside the backgrounds are obscured by muddy coloring. I know
theyre trying to set a dark, edgy mood and most of the action seems to take place at
night but come on, lighten it up just a little bit. The coloring in issue #4 was
particularly distracting.

The world of Darkminds is set in the
future, 2032 to be exact, in the city of Macropolis. Something called Paradox has been
killing people with a body count in the double digits. Agents Nagawa (cynical but cute)
and Nakiko (the beautiful, busty cyborg with an expertise in psionic
investigationwhich basically means she gets information out of dead
peoples brains) are picked to work together on the investigation. I did find some
horrible spelling errors in issue #1 but Im guessing they invested in a spellcheck
program because I didnt notice any more errors after embelizm for
embolism and pickels for pickles.

A subplot involves Agent Nakiko and who she was in a
previous life. A bunch of bikers (the Neon Dragons) capture her and Nagawa because she
bears more than a passing resemblance to a missing friend of theirs. Nakiko gets the photo
and has a friend do some digging in the files of Aurora Industries (creators of the
technology that makes Nakiko possible). Of course, she runs into security barriers.
Someone (a seemingly powerful someone) at Atlas Industries (yet another mega technology
corporation) likes that information hidden. Hence in a conspiratorial twist, Nagawa and
Nakiko get framed for the Paradox murders and end up on the run.

This series started out strong but after reading 6 issues
of Darkminds Im ready to call it quits. I dont care enough
about the characters, the writing is corny, the story poorly paced and the muddy artwork
is driving me batty. If I hadnt been so lax about reading the issues I probably
would have quit after #3. But thats what I get for reading too many comics. If you
find Darkminds in a quarter box at some future date, by all means give it
a try. But I dont recommend plopping down $2.50 an issue for it right now.

Darkminds should be available at your local comic shop
or you can write them c/o Darkminds Archives, P.O. Box 87528, 300 John Street, Thornhill,
Ontario Canada L3T 7R3. You can also check out their web site at www.dreamwaveprod.com.